Wednesday, July 07, 2004
All eyes on Tennessee
[William M. Welch and Julie Appleby, "States watching Tennessee's health care plan for the poor," USA Today, 6 July 2004.]
Tennessee is tinkering with their Medicaid program in an effort to reduce costs through strict controls on usage. While Tennessee is right to experiment with federal waivers and the state is projecting big savings, they may be compromising care for the truly needy while at the same time not addressing the tidal wave of costs that the baby boom generation will bring to the program:
One state's proposal to control the rising costs of health care for the poor has provoked alarm among national advocacy groups, which warn that bold new limits on prescriptions, doctor visits and medical treatments in Tennessee could spread elsewhere.
States from Florida to California are considering ways to contain huge and growing expenses for Medicaid, a shared state-federal program that provides care for the poorest Americans. Health care for the poor has become the most rapidly increasing cost for many states reeling from budget shortfalls during the last three years. Some have saved money by scaling back the number of people who qualify.
Experts say that what Tennessee proposes is unique. To avoid cutting people off the rolls, the state plans to seek federal approval to reduce medical benefits. The plan would limit the number of prescriptions and doctor visits for any patient and direct doctors to use the cheapest treatment alternative, such as an over-the-counter drug instead of a prescription. The Bush administration generally has encouraged states to seek cost savings.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Kansas needs bold Medicaid reform," The Flint Hills Center, 21 January 2004.]
[William M. Welch and Julie Appleby, "States watching Tennessee's health care plan for the poor," USA Today, 6 July 2004.]
Tennessee is tinkering with their Medicaid program in an effort to reduce costs through strict controls on usage. While Tennessee is right to experiment with federal waivers and the state is projecting big savings, they may be compromising care for the truly needy while at the same time not addressing the tidal wave of costs that the baby boom generation will bring to the program:
One state's proposal to control the rising costs of health care for the poor has provoked alarm among national advocacy groups, which warn that bold new limits on prescriptions, doctor visits and medical treatments in Tennessee could spread elsewhere.
States from Florida to California are considering ways to contain huge and growing expenses for Medicaid, a shared state-federal program that provides care for the poorest Americans. Health care for the poor has become the most rapidly increasing cost for many states reeling from budget shortfalls during the last three years. Some have saved money by scaling back the number of people who qualify.
Experts say that what Tennessee proposes is unique. To avoid cutting people off the rolls, the state plans to seek federal approval to reduce medical benefits. The plan would limit the number of prescriptions and doctor visits for any patient and direct doctors to use the cheapest treatment alternative, such as an over-the-counter drug instead of a prescription. The Bush administration generally has encouraged states to seek cost savings.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Kansas needs bold Medicaid reform," The Flint Hills Center, 21 January 2004.]
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